Considering the importance of ensuring the best implementation of what is concerned, albeit with a different significance, regarding the election of the Roman Pontiff, in particular a more certain interpretation and execution of some provisions, I establish and prescribe that some norms of the Apostolic Constitution 'Universi Dominici Gregis', as well as what I myself set forth in the above-mentioned Apostolic Letter, be replaced with the following norms:

35. No Cardinal elector can be excluded from active or passive voice in the election of the Supreme Pontiff, for any reason or pretext, with due regard for the provisions of n. 40 and n. 75 of this Constitution.

37. I furthermore decree that, from the moment when the Apostolic See is lawfully vacant, the Cardinal electors who are present must wait fifteen full days for those who are absent before beginning the Conclave; however, the College of Cardinals is also granted the faculty to anticipate the beginning of the Conclave if all the Cardinal electors are present as well as the faculty to defer, for serious reasons, the beginning of the election for a few additional days. But when a maximum twenty days have elapsed from the beginning of the vacancy of the See, all the Cardinal electors present are obliged to proceed to the election.

43. From the beginning of the electoral process until the public announcement that the election of the Supreme Pontiff has taken place, or in any case until the new Pope so disposes, the rooms of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, and, in particular, the Sistine Chapel and the areas reserved for liturgical celebrations are to be closed to unauthorized persons, by the authority of the Cardinal Camerlengo and with the outside assistance of the Vice Camerlengo and the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, in accordance with the provisions set forth in the following Numbers.

During this period, the entire territory of Vatican City and the ordinary activity of the offices located therein shall be regulated, for the period mentioned, in a way that ensures the confidentiality and the free development of all the undertakings connected with the election of the Supreme Pontiff. In particular, provision shall be made, with the help of the Cleric Prelates of the Chamber to ensure that no one approaches the Cardinal electors while they are being transported from the Domus Sanctae Marthae to the Apostolic Vatican Palace.

46, § 1°. In order to meet the personal and official needs connected with the election process, the following individuals must be available and therefore properly lodged in suitable areas within the confines mentioned in n. 43 of this Constitution: the Secretary of the College of Cardinals, who acts as Secretary of the electoral assembly; the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations with eight Masters of Ceremonies and two Religious attached to the Papal Sacristy; and an ecclesiastic chosen by the Cardinal Dean or by the Cardinal taking his place, in order to assist him in his duties.

47. All persons listed in n. 46 and n. 55, § 2° of this Constitution who in any way or at any time should come to learn anything from any source, directly or indirectly, regarding the election process, and in particular regarding the voting which took place in the election itself, are obliged to maintain strict secrecy with all persons extraneous to the College of Cardinal electors: accordingly, before the election begins, they shall take an oath in the form and using the formula indicated in n. 48.

48. The persons listed in n. 46 and n. 55, § 2° of this Constitution, having been duly warned about the meaning and extent of the oath that they are to take, before the start of the election process, shall, in the presence of the Cardinal Camerlengo or another Cardinal delegated by him, and in the presence of two numerary participant Apostolic Protonotaries, in due course swear and sign the oath according to the following formula:

“I, N.N., promise and swear that, unless I should receive a special faculty given expressly by the newly-elected Pontiff or by his successors, I will observe absolute and perpetual secrecy with all who are not part of the College of Cardinal electors concerning all matters directly or indirectly related to the ballots cast and their scrutiny for the election of the Supreme Pontiff.”

“I likewise promise and swear to refrain from using any audio or video equipment capable of recording anything which takes place during the period of the election within Vatican City, and in particular anything which in any way, directly or indirectly, is related to the process of the election itself.”

“I declare that I take this oath fully aware that an infraction thereof will make me subject to the penalty of excommunication 'latae sententiae', which is reserved to the Apostolic See."

“So help me God and these Holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand.”

49. When the funeral rites for the deceased Pope have been celebrated according to the prescribed ritual, and everything necessary for the regular functioning of the election has been prepared, on the appointed day of the beginning of the Conclave established in conformity with the provisions of n. 37 of the present Constitution, the Cardinal electors shall meet in the Basilica of Saint Peter's in the Vatican, or elsewhere, should circumstances warrant it, in order to take part in a solemn Eucharistic celebration with the Votive Mass 'Pro Eligendo Papa'. This celebration should preferably take place at a suitable hour in the morning, so that in the afternoon the prescriptions of the following Numbers of this Constitution can be carried out.

50. From the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, where they will assemble at a suitable hour in the afternoon, the Cardinal electors, in choir dress and invoking the assistance of the Holy Spirit with the chant of the 'Veni Creator', will solemnly proceed to the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, where the election will be held. The Vice Camerlengo, the General Auditor of the Apostolic Camera, and two members of each of the colleges of numerary participant Apostolic Protonotaries, Prelate Auditors of the Roman Rota, and Cleric Prelates of the Chamber will participate in the procession.

51, § 2°. It will therefore be the responsibility of the College of Cardinals, operating under the authority and responsibility of the Camerlengo, assisted by the Particular Congregation mentioned in n. 7 of the present Constitution, and with the outside assistance of the Vice Camerlengo and the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, to make all prior arrangements for the interior of the Sistine Chapel and adjacent areas to be prepared, so that an orderly election and its privacy will be ensured.

55, § 3°. Should any infraction whatsoever of this norm occur, those responsible should know that they will be subject to the penalty of excommunication 'latae sententiae', which is reserved to the Apostolic See.

62. Since the forms of election known as 'per acclamationem seu inspirationem' and 'per compromissum' are abolished, the form of electing the Roman Pontiff shall henceforth be 'per scrutinium' alone.

I therefore decree that, for the valid election of the Roman Pontiff, at least two thirds of the votes are required, calculated on the basis of the total number of electors present and voting.

64. The voting process is carried out in three phases. The first phase, which can be called the pre-scrutiny, comprises: 1) the preparation and distribution of the ballot papers by the Masters of Ceremonies—called meanwhile into the Hall together with the Secretary of the College of Cardinals and with the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations—who give at least two or three to each Cardinal elector; 2) the drawing by lot, from among all the Cardinal electors, of three Scrutineers, of three persons charged with collecting the votes of the sick, called for the sake of brevity 'Infirmarii', and of three Revisers; this drawing is carried out in public by the junior Cardinal Deacon, who draws out nine names, one after another, of those who shall carry out these tasks; 3) if, in the drawing of lots for the Scrutineers, 'Infirmarii' and Revisers, there should come out the names of Cardinal electors who because of infirmity or other reasons are unable to carry out these tasks, the names of others who are not impeded are to be drawn in their place. The first three drawn will act as Scrutineers, the second three as 'Infirmarii', and the last three as Revisers.

70, § 2°. The Scrutineers add up all the votes that each individual has received, and if no one has obtained at least two thirds of the votes on that ballot, the Pope has not been elected; if however it turns out that someone has obtained at least two thirds of the votes, the canonically valid election of the Roman Pontiff has taken place.

75. If the votes referred to in n. 72, 73, and 74 of the above-mentioned Constitution do not result in an election, a day will be dedicated to prayer, reflection, and discussion. In subsequent votes, in accordance with the procedure established in n. 74 of this same Constitution, only the two whose names have received the greatest number of votes in the immediately preceding ballot will have the passive electoral right. There can be no waiving of the requirement that a valid election takes place only by a qualified majority of at least two thirds of the votes of the cardinals who are present and voting. Moreover, in these ballots, the two persons who enjoy the passive electoral right lose their active electoral right.

When the election has canonically taken place, the junior Cardinal Deacon summons into the Hall of election the Secretary of the College of Cardinals, the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, and two Masters of Ceremonies. The Cardinal Dean, or the Cardinal who is first in order and seniority, in the name of the whole College of electors, then asks the consent of the one elected in the following words: 'Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?' And, as soon as he has received the consent, he asks him: 'By what name do you wish to be called?' Then the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, acting as notary and having as witnesses the two Masters of Ceremonies, draws up a document certifying acceptance by the new Pope and the name taken by him.

This document will enter into force immediately upon its publication in the Osservatore Romano.

This I do decree and establish, notwithstanding any instruction to the contrary.

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on February 22, 2013, the eighth of my Pontificate.

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

[Unofficial translation provided by the Vatican Information Service, modified by Rorate according to the typical text where applicable.]

[Published in L'Osservatore Romano, February 25-26, 2013, edition, p. 7. The motu proprio entered into force immediately after its publication.]

27 comments:

So, presumably, this boils down to enabling the cardinal's to determine a commencement day for the conclave *within* the previously stipulated 15 day period from the date the See of Rome becomes vacant.

So we will have to wait and see what date they will determine. It will be interesting to see how far forward they bring the date - although surely they would not bring it further forward than say the 10th March. What do others think?

Basically, this papal document, issued in 2007, says, that the change made by John Paul II to the papal election rules, whereby only half - in some circumstances - of the cardinals' votes would be enough to elect a new Pope, is hereby abrogated, and the earlier, traditional rule, that 2/3 of teh votes are always needed to elect a new Pope, is reiinstated.

If this motu proprio only allows the date to be pushed sooner if ALL of the cardinal-electors are in Rome early, would this not essentially be a dead letter as it is most likely that a few cardinals will be late/sick/etc....?

"By a modification to paragraph n. 48: The oath of secrecy is extended to the individuals mentioned in Paragraph 55,2, among whom are the two "trustworthy technicians" who have the task of assisting the competent officers of the College in assuring that no audio-visual equipment for recording or transmitting has been installed by anyone in the areas mentioned, and particularly in the Sistine Chapel itself, where the acts of the election are carried out.

"By a modification to the text of paragraph 55,3: The punishment for any violation of the oath of secrecy is to be excommunication latae sententiae (the old text provided for “grave penalties according to the judgment of the future Pope”)."

On top of this, the Oath of Obedience has been reinstated.

With these, and other issues, like the report from Poland by Fr Oko, I think that the fight for control of the Catholic Church has reached a critical point.

No, no, it certainly is not just about the date: there are several modifications, and the one regarding the date is not even the most important, and it is not even an actual modification, but rather an interpretation. Those concerning the application of all secrecy rules to all invidividuals present in the confines of the conclave are much more important.

What I consider interesting is the new rules of article 75, regarding the vote between two Cardinals only.

In the Press Conference a day or two ago about the norms of the Apostolic Constitution Universi, the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the interpretation of legislative texts was asked:

After so many votes, there is this vote between two Cardinals only, the two best voted in the preceeding vote. They themselves do not vote, but the required 2/3 of the remaining Cardinals is still required for election.

What happens if neither Cardinal gathers the support of 2/3 of the electors in this run-off vote?

Then the Bishop Secretary answered that, in his opinion, to break the deadlock, everything would start all over again, with everybody becoming eligible again.

With this Motu Proprio, the Pope decided otherwise. If the run-off takes place, then in all subsequent votes the same two people will continue being the only ones capable of beign chosen, until someone among them receives 2/3 of the votes.

But the Cardinals not attending will have to, according to the norms of the Constitution, reply to the summons stating that they cannot attend, and their excuse will have to be evaluated by one of the preparatory Congregations of Cardinals.

So, once their excuse is accepted, they are no longer expected to attend. Then, if all Cardinals expected to attend are present, the Conclave can begin if they so choose, even if this takes place before the 15th day of the Vacant See.

I was troubled with the run-off language in the case where one receives 2/3rds but decides to refuse election. There are no norms shown here addressing whether the electee receiving less than 1/3 is offered the papacy, or whether they start from scratch. I guess that's a remote contingency.

It means really the Conclave can begin as soon as possible provided all the Cardinals are in Rome. Since they've all been given advance notice of an abdication, most of them are already in Rome or on the way. the media reporting (true or erroneous with them). According to what the Holy Father wrote, it looks like they don't have to wait a full fifteen days unless a Pope has past away... ??

Prof Basto said "With this Motu Proprio, the Pope decided otherwise. If the run-off takes place, then in all subsequent votes the same two people will continue being the only ones capable of beign chosen, until someone among them receives 2/3 of the votes."

Is this really the case? Wow. It's like they are forced to be "locked-in" to those 2 candidates....hmmmm...

I think this, coupled with the other stipulations, imply that it is canonically impossible for someone outside of the college of cardinal-electors to be nominated Supreme Pontiff. (Not that this was likely before)....so much for Pope Athanasius Schneider :-(

It is. Just compare the text of article 75 promulgated with the Apostolic Letter "Constitutione Apostolica Universi" of 2007 with the new text of article 75 now published with this Apostolic Letter "Normas nonnullas".

The new text makes clear that "In subsequent votes", not only in the one subsequent vote after the number of normal votes that trigger the run-off, the election will be between the two best voted men.

The scenario you allude to is really a matter for interpretation, because the Constitution is absolutely silent and contains no norm regarding that point, namely --- what happens after the runoff if the elected Cardinal decides to refuse the Pontificate?

But, fortunately, the Constitution states that doubts of interpretation can be adjudicated by the College with a majority vote.

My opinion is this. The number of ballots, the procedures if certain number of ballots are not successful, the days of reflection, the run-off, etc., they all cease once there is a valid election.

The Constitution states that to become Pope, three conditions must be met: canonical election, acceptance and possession of episcopal ordination.

So, if a candidate is elected, the first condition, canonical election, is accomplished.

If the elected person refuses, the secretary of the Conclave, the Master of Ceremonies and the two cerimonieri withdraw, the votes are burned so that black smoke is issued, and the Conclave continues. But the fact is that, with this refused election, one canonical election took place, although it was not sufficient to provide the Church with a Pope (due to the refusal to accept the office).

Then, this canonical election, having been refused, is discarded, and the subsequent ballots indeed constitute a new election, although in the same Conclave.

In other words, you cannot say that the College was deadlocked, that it did not succeed in choosing a candidate, when a candidate got the necessary votes and refused to accept his valid canonical election.

So, in this case of refusal of the Pontificate, my interpretation would be that everything starts from scratch, including the counting of the days for the purposes of a pause and day of reflection, and also for the purposes of run-off.

Nothing authorizes the Papacy to be offered to the Cardinal with less votes, because the Constitution states that the 2/3 are always required.

So, if the person elected in runoff refuses to accept, obviously in the new canonical election the runoff rules no longer applies, the procedures start afresh, and everybody is eligible.

Wonderful to see the document in Latin.Good to see the two thirds rule return.As cardinals no longer travel to Rome on horseback or in carriages there is no reason to delay the procedures overly.After all the recent leaks and the rumour-mongering I am not surprised to see the secrecy mechanisms as detailed as they are with the necessary ultimate ecclesiastical sanction.

The double requirement of a two-thirds vote and limiting the field to two candidates after a set period could be a prescription for catastrophe...if both the top two vote-getters when the candidate limit kicks in are inalterably opposed by 39 cardinals,no pope can ever be elected barring deaths of voters being lopsided!

302kmmemiNew paragraph 37 is not the same in the Latin as in the English crib. The Latin says that the Conclave may begin early if it is agreed (constat) that all the electors are present. This could make a difference.

"In subsequent votes, in accordance with the procedure established in n. 74 of this same Constitution, only the two whose names have received the greatest number of votes in the immediately preceding ballot will have the passive electoral right. There can be no waiving of the requirement that a valid election takes place only by a qualified majority of at least two thirds of the votes of the cardinals who are present and voting. Moreover, in these ballots, the two persons who enjoy the passive electoral right lose their active electoral right."

"Passive electoral right" is the right to be elected. "Active electoral right" is the right to vote. So it looks to me that on subsequent ballots, while the two frontrunners are the only ones who are eligible to be elected, they lose their ability to vote.

Louis E. writes: "The double requirement of a two-thirds vote and limiting the field to two candidates after a set period could be a prescription for catastrophe...if both the top two vote-getters when the candidate limit kicks in are inalterably opposed by 39 cardinals,no pope can ever be elected barring deaths of voters being lopsided!"

I agree. While the Cardinals, after a few ballots, would probably surrender their votes to one of the two possible candidates in sufficient numbers so as to accomplish an election, the possibility of an invincible deadlock is real if there is an unwavering rejection of both candidates by more than 1/3 of the College each. So the new norms promulgated by Benedict XVI do create the possibility of an inalterable deadlock.

It would be much better if we simply had the 2/3 majority requirement at all times, but without any procedure to limit the number of candidates.

If the Cardinals were really deadlocked, some name would emerge that would command their consensus, to the point of reaching the traditional 2/3 majority. But if you limit the choice of names, then you limit the possibility of consensus.

I disagree with doubts cast about the two-thirds rule - it worked before and it will work again. As for the simple majority I felt at the time it was designed to facilitate Cardinal Ratzinger's election. However, that was just my opinion.